approach that it uses with customers, attacking cynicism with informa-
tion,’ says Bo Burlingham. ‘It deluges employees with newsletters, videos,
brochures, posters and training programmes, to convince them that while
profits may be boring, business does not have to be.’
There is a training centre in London which anyone in the company can
attend free of charge. Courses are almost entirely devoted to instruction in
the nature and uses of the products, and are so popular that the school
cannot keep up with demand.
The company newsletter reads almost like an underground newsletter.
Burlingham again: ‘More space is devoted to campaigns to save the rain
forest and ban ozone-depleting chemicals than the opening of a new
branch. Sprinkled throughout are quotes, bits of poetry, environmental
facts and anthropological anecdotes.’
The move into colour cosmetics
It might appear to the casual observer that a move into colour cosmetics
(make-up as opposed to skin and haircare products) would be inconsistent
with this philosophy and approach. After all, the mainstream colour cos-
metics industry is characterized by glossy advertising showing the cus-
tomer an idealized image of the woman she could become if only she
would use this or that eyeshadow or lipstick.
But Anita Roddick had the answer to any criticism there might be. She
commissioned academic research on the psychology of make-up from Dr
Jean Ann Graham in the US to prove that women derive psychological
support from painting their faces. The range was launched in collaboration
with Barbara Daly, a well-known make-up expert who had designed the
Princess of Wales’ make-up on her wedding day. The packaging was
minimal and the design stylishly simple. Products were coded to guide
customers as to which colours go together, and again information leaflets
were available, as well as a video showing how to apply make-up using
both a young and an older woman as models. The range has proved suc-
cessful with customers and in 1989 represented around 10–15 per cent of
The Body Shop’s turnover, a steadily increasing proportion.
The toiletries industry
The market for haircare products is complex and fragmented. In the UK in
1988 the total size of the skincare market alone was over £138 million.
Although nearly 50 per cent of the market for skincare creams and lotions
is accounted for by the top five companies, a large number of small com-
panies makes up the remaining 56 per cent.
298 Relationship Marketing